Spectrum power and brain functional connectivity of different EEG frequency bands in attention network tests

There have been many previous studies on brain electrical activity and attention function, but the research on observing the cognitive function of attention from frequency brain electrical indicators remains insufficient. This study proposed an attentional network test (ANT) of Chinese version and used frequency analysis methods to observe the power spectrum activity and functional connectivity of delta (δ), theta (θ), alpha (α) bands of EEG signals to further understand their relationship with attention networks. The attentional network test was composed of alerting network, orienting network and execute conflict network, and these networks were compared with the resting state in different frequency bands. The results showed that α band activity was significantly suppressed in all three attentional states, and the power of θ band activity dramatically increased for the execute conflict network. The negative connection of α band in the long distance (frontal lobe to parietal lobe or occipital lobe) might be a sign of resting state network, and the positive connections between δ and θ band in similar areas could be an indicator of execute conflict network. This pilot study suggests that the frequency domain analysis of EEG signals could be a great tool to visualize the brain activities in response to different attentional networks.Clinical Relevance— This pilot study proved that the frequency bands activity might be suitable objective neuro-markers to distinguish different attention states.